


Angel's Fish

by BlueVioletImp



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Angel Dust, Child Arackniss, Child Molly, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Support Animals, Gen, Gender Roles, Homophobic Language, Period-Typical Homophobia, Sibling Bonding, semi-fluff, supportive vaggie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-26 03:48:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30099858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueVioletImp/pseuds/BlueVioletImp
Summary: Angel Dust loves fish and always has since childhood. To him, they are one of the few things he has that makes him feel better.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Little Red Dots

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first work on here, I hope you like it. There's only some period typical homophobic language and a little bit of trauma. For the most part, it's very cute and fluffy Angel Dust!

Angel tossed over to his side again, trying to get in a comfortable position, but it was to no avail. Looking out the window, he sighed to himself. It wasn’t the hotel’s fault he was having a hard time sleeping, of course. For as long as he could remember, he’s been having sleeping issues.He aimlessly stroked Fat Nuggets, who was curled up beside him. The little pig would sometimes stir from his sleep when an unfamiliar hand was placed on him, but Angel’s touch was always recognizable and welcomed.

The fluffy spider turned on his back again to stare at the ceiling of his pink room, now dulled due to the lack of light. He felt his brow furrow involuntarily.

_Fuckin’ curfew...never been tah bed this early. Probably gonna wake up too early...or never fuckin’ fall asleep._

Angel’s grouchy thoughts were interrupted by hearing Charlie from the hallway.

“Well, maybe we can just leave it in the lobby until we can find a better spot?”

“I told you, I don’t trust live animals being around some of the guests.”

“Vaggie!”

Angel turned back on his side and focused his eyes on his partially cracked open door. He could just make out the shadows of Charlie and Vaggie from the dimly lit hallway.

___What’s ol’ Snatch and Blondie doin’ up so late? They force me to be in bed at a certain time, why ain’t it the same for them?!_ _ _

Vaggie continued, “Husk has also said he’s not into having to look at it from his work station...I don’t know if I’d really trust him with fish. Same with Alastor.”

_____Fish…? The hell are they doing with fish?_ _ _ _ _

Charlie huffed, “I guess you have a point...but why don’t you want Nifty to look after them? She’d be great with maintaining it!”

The shadow of Vaggie crossed her arms, “Yeah...maybe a little too well. She told me that she’d buy extra bottles of bleach just for the fish.”  
There was a pause.

“Bleach kills aquarium fish, hon.”

Angel decide to fuck any notions of falling asleep at this point and get up.

“Well, then who’s room should we put it in?” Charlie gestured her hand out waiting for a suggestion, while her partner pinched the bridge of her nose. “If you think it’ll take up space in our room, and you don’t trust any of the guests, where should we -”

 _ _ _ _ _ _“______ What’s this about not trustin’ any of the guests?” Angel tightened the belt of his robe as he stepped out _ _ _ _ _ _.______ “I don’t believe _ _ _ _ _ _ _I_______ was informed of this new t’ing.” Angel pressed his hand on his chest for emphasis on the “I” part.

Charlie and Vaggie looked at each other. Then back at their fluffy spider guest, who obviously had a depravity of sleep in his eyes.

Angel grinned, “Was it something about aquarium fish?”

Vaggie’s hands moved to her hips, she leaned forward in anger, “You were eavesdropping on our conversation?”

Angel crossed his lower set of arms, while his upper held his left elbow, ponderously. He looked upwards, “Well now, I wouldn’t exactly call it that...just remember YOU and Chuck ovah there were the ones standin’ outside my door, yappin’ away while I was trying to get my beauty sleep.”  
Angel made a “yapping” motion with his left hand.

Vaggie huffed and muttered, “You obviously don’t get much beauty sleep.” purposely trying to get a rise out of him.

“HEY!”

It obviously worked.

Angel rolled his eyes and crossed both sets of arms now, “I swear, I come out ‘ere, trying to offer my help to your problem, and ya gotta throw in a cheap one line- ”

“Wait,” Vaggie cut in, holding her hand out to stop Angel mid-sentence, “You want to help us with this?”

Angel shrugged, “Yeah, why not? It is aquarium stuff though, right?”

“Well, yes. But…” Charlie looked to the side, “It was a gift donated to the hotel. A family of nobles who are close with my father and mother. It’s a lovely gesture! Although, I don’t know if I can keep it. I’ve never cared for one of these before and -”

“Well shit, Princess. You coulda woken me up the minute you got it!” Angel grinned and looked around, “Where’s the fish box at, eh?”

“Forgive me for saying this, Angel...” Charlie placed both of her hand together, “But I thought you weren’t too fond of water? Why would you want to help us with the aquarium?”

“Aquariums is different, toots! Theys like little ecosystems you can look aftah. You can fill em up with a buncha cool shit. Feed ‘em those little green and brown flakes that smell like stale corn chips...and it’ll give me another thing to focus my attention on!”

“You already have one of those.” Vaggie, still in her incredulous stance, avert her eyes to Fat Nuggets. He was now awake and by his Papa’s feet, curious to what the fuss was about.

Angel scooped the cute swine into his arms, nuzzling his fuzzy face, “Who says I can’t have another one of these ‘emotional support’ t’ings?”

“That is a good point, Vaggie.” Charlie place a hand on her girlfriends shoulder, “Aquariums can often be used as stress-relieving tools for patients. And also, the more positive things that Angel can do to take his mind off sin, the more I think it would help him on his path towards getting clean and redemption!”

“See?” Angel grinned cockily at Vaggie, setting Fat Nuggets back down, “Miss Princess of Hell says yes…”  
Angel moved closer to the moth demon and batted his eyes innocently, “Whaddya say, mom? Pleeeeaaasse?”

Vaggie groaned and rolled her eyes, stepping away from Angel’s innocent gaze, “Just clean your room, first.”

She glanced into the opening of Angel’s room, seeing clothes and various unmentionables littered around the floor.

“Aww danks...I knew you’d say yes!” Angel put his arm around each of the women’s shoulders. He nuzzled his face against Vaggie's, similar in the way he did to Fat Nuggets. Charlie giggled and gave a tight hug to his waist. The moth demon snarled and muttered, ________“ _Bastardo mimado… _”__________

“So where are the little guys?”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well shit, I didn’t t’ink they’d this little.” Angel leaned down at the tank to take a closer look at the specimens inside.

“The tank is only so big, Angel.” Vaggie responded.

“You ain’t kiddin’, toots! When you gals said dis was a gift from friends of the royal family, I thought the fish was gonna be bigger than this! I thought the tank would go up to the ceiling or somethin'. I mean, it’s only 30 gallons, and they put a bunch of little red dots in there?” Angel squinted, pressing his face to the aquarium glass, “I can barely see the puny fuckers!”

Vaggie yanked him back. “Don’t do that! You’ll scare them!”

Angel grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, “They’ll see a lot worse than my furry mug if they’re living in my room.”

The moth demon rolled her eyes.

“These are called Harlequin Rasboras! Or at least... that’s what I was told.” Charlie proclaimed.

“They should came with a fuckin’ magnifying glass.”

“Angel…” Vaggie said through clenched teeth. Charlie looked slightly worried about him being disappointed with the fish.

Angel took notice of the princess’ expression and managed, “Uh...the colors are nice though.”

Charlie perked up, “Well, I have this catalogue here of all the fish we can order at the pet store!”

“I know I wanna order angelfish.” he smiled, “So they can have something in common with Papa. If they got a pink one, then -”

“No.” said Vaggie.

Angel paused. “‘No’? Whaddya mean ‘no’? Theys my fishes ain’t they?”

Charlie pressed her hands together, “Well Angel, from what we understand, angelfish might not exactly um...get along with other fish that are this small. They might...um…”

“They might eat smaller fish around this size.” Vaggie interrupted her girlfriend bluntly _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.__________

Angel was quiet for a moment then snickered, “You sure Al didn’t want ‘em? I mean, he’d probably like them if he knew what they could get up to -”

“Angel!” Charlie and Vaggie both lectured in unison.

“Alright, alright relax!” Angel held up his top hands, “Just a little bit of dark humor.”

Charlie used this as a good moment to start reading suggestions from the catalogue, “Well now, let’s see what other options there is...guppies only get to about an inch and a half long! They’d -”

“Nah, nah...don’t wanna fucking strain my eyes no more. People will think I’ve got a fucking ant farm instead.”

“Well, what about platies?”

Angel looked confused, “Ain’t those some kind duck?”

Vaggie pinched her forehead in frustration, “Ugh...that’s platypus you idiot!”

Angel ignored her and moved closer to Charlie, reading the catalogue over her shoulder as she thumbed back and forth.

At one certain picture, Angel’s eyes widened and he quickly pointed his pinked-gloved finger on the page, “That one!”

Charlie looked to where he was pointing, “You sure?”

His white head nodded, a large grin spread across his face, “I like the name.”


	2. Three for a Quarter

_Brooklyn, New York, 1920_

Molly quickly became alarmed when her twin brother started yelling.

“NO, PLEASE PAPA!” 

The eight year old girl stopped brushing her teeth, and left the bathroom to see the commotion. 

In the living room, both of her brothers stood behind their father who was at the front door. In his one hand, he held a mannequin head by the neck. In the other, a soft dress-up doll he held by the hair.

Molly vividly remembers the day her and Anthony found both of those items in the junkyard that they regularly played in. They’d been told not to go there several times by their parents and were frequently cussed at and chased off by the lot owner, giggling while running away with whatever treasures they’d found. 

Finding mannequin parts was not an unusual occurrence. Shop owners frequently threw out old ones. But this particular one, with her bright hair and painted on makeup, caught both their attention. Anthony in particular. 

As for the doll, she remembers Anthony being surprised with the doll being in such good condition. Only a little scuffed up. 

“She’s perfect! Why the fuck would anybody throw her away?!” the third grader cussed, making his sister giggle. 

It hurt to see both of those memories be literally stolen away from her and her brother. From Anthony especially. She knew how special those things were to him. He even named the mannequin head Lola and the doll Bella. 

She watched her brothers stand there powerless. The older one, Salvatore, looked slightly annoyed (as usual) but also concerned. Anthony (who was only minutes apart in age) was beside himself, sobbing incoherently. Seeing his face made Molly almost tear up. 

“Please! P-please!” Anthony shakily begged, tugging at his father’s coat.

“C’mon, Pops.” Salvatore said, trying to not act affected, “It’s just a couple a dumb girls things. It’s not like Tony’s hurtin’ anyon-” 

“Exactly.” Henry, the father of the family and respected mob boss interrupted his eldest boy, “They _are_ dumb girls things. And he’s gotta learn how to stop bein’ such a fuckin’ sissy queer.” 

Anthony now tugged at Henry’s sleeve, “P-please! I swear pops I’ll be good! I’ll do all my chores! I won’t slack on my paper route! I’ll help Mr. Pagano after school! I’ll -” 

Henry aggressively jerked his arm out of his son’s grasp, making his children jump.

“If you wanna be good Anthony, stop hiding this trash in your room. Or I’ll do somethin’ worse than gettin’ rid of it.” 

“What are you going to do with them, Papa?” Molly finally spoke up, despite her shaking voice. 

Henry held up the doll as if he was inspecting it. “This’d make a good bait toy for the guard dogs at the mill.” 

Anthony fell on the floor, landing on his knees. 

“As for ‘dis one...I might have to burn somewheres. Don’t wanna risk you kids finding it again. I don’t wanna stink up the house though.” 

Molly hugged her brother as her father walked out the door. 

When Pop came back that night, Anthony was lectured further...just in a more physical way.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Anthony stayed in his room for most of the morning. Something highly uncommon for young Brooklyn kids on a warm, Saturday morning. 

Molly herself was reluctant to play with the other neighborhood kids. How could she with the way her usual partner in crime was feeling? 

When she and her twin normally would be playing stickball or double dutch or, if they were lucky, a kind adult would open a fire hydrant for all of the children on the block to play in. If they were feeling particularly mischievous, they’d mess around on the stoop of Mr. Martini’s house. Running away from him when he came out all red faced, swearing with a broom, was a little frightening, but that didn’t stop them from giggling while escaping anyway. 

Instead of all that, Molly sat in the small, broken-fenced alleyway, playing a game of catch with the brick building next to them. The small rubber ball would hit off of the wall and bounce back to her. But the more she thought of how much more fun it would be with her brother of the same age, and how much more fun it would be to play with the other kids on the street if he was there, the more she lost her vigor to play with the ball. Her bouncing soon became simply rolls before she and the ball stopped completely. 

What could she do to help Anthony feel better? Would he ever feel better? What if he never wants to come out and play again? 

Molly tried to think of the times when she felt upset. While her father and older brother were emotionally callous, and her mother would give a little comfort by telling her that her feelings would pass, Anthony would try to cheer her up. Either by telling her whatever new joke he heard or funny story, picking out a new combination of her outfits for her to try on, or using whatever pocket money he had earned to buy her some candy from the corner store. 

She spun the ball on the ground while she weighed her options: 

_Anthony loves to joke around and laugh, but I can’t really think of any good jokes or funny stories right now. I don’t know if he even feels like laughing either..._

She stared at the brick wall as an old memory popped into her head. 

_I remember the last time me and Anthony got into Mamma’s makeup and jewelry. We were just fooling around in the bedroom, and then Papa found us…_

Molly blinked and looked back down at the ball, now trying not to remember how angry her father was...how embarrassed he made Anthony feel...the things he called him... the punishment they both received, but Anthony’s was worse. 

_Anthony’s were always worse...no matter what he did._

Molly’s mother came out with a basket of laundry to hang up. She hummed an old Italian melody, carrying on and not noticing her daughter sitting there. Molly made herself known. 

“Mama?” Molly tugged on her mother’s apron. 

“Yes, _tesora mia_?”

Molly had one of the best “puppy-eyes” expressions in the family, only rivaled by Anthony. She knew she had to really play it up here. 

“Do you think that I could have my pocket money early?” 

Her mother raised an eyebrow as she pulled out some more clothespins from her apron pocket, “What for?” Her Brooklyn accent came out as she went from doting to incredulous. 

Molly twirled her braided pigtail, looking down. “Um...well, I wanna get Anthony some sweets from Leone's corner store.” 

Mamma smirked a little. She had known about the situation last night. She did what she could to try and comfort Anthony. But she knew that there wasn’t much she could do in situations like this...especially when it involves her husband. After all, it was Henry who blamed her for "making their son so fruity". 

She kneeled down and gently held her daughter’s chin, free hand clutching clothespins and resting on her knees. “That’s very sweet of you to think of your brotha, pum’kin.” She kissed Molly’s forehead and resumed her chores, straight-faced again. 

“But I’ve got a ricotta pie for after dinner tonight, and tomorrow were going to Nona’s after mass. You’ll be filled up with enough sweets.” 

Molly pouted a little. Any other time she’d be thrilled to have so many desserts in one weekend, but she’d trade it in exchange for the option to buy some saltwater taffy to make her brother smile.

Their mother looked over her shoulder and recognized her daughter’s crestfallen expression as she sat back down. 

She smirked again after she finished hanging up a blouse “I need to go to the marketplace this afternoon, you wanna tag along?” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Molly was uncertain what else the market had besides fruit and vegetable stands. It wasn’t normally a place her and her brothers frequented. 

She watched her mother peruse a cart of melons, about to already add to the artichokes and squash she picked out. 

Molly was disinterested, wondering why her mother had suggested bringing her here in the first place. There couldn’t possibly be anything here that she could get for Anthony. Mamma said no to candy. There were no toy stands around. Even if there were, Molly doubted that her mother would let her get one for her brother. 

The little girl couldn’t help but wander. Not too far away from her mother, but far enough away to see something more interesting than honeydew. 

There was a new stand up that was unfamiliar to Molly. Despite her not being to the marketplace very many times, she never remembered there ever being a stand that sold pets. 

Several cages of exotic parrots were all squawking and fluttering around in their small amount of cage room. A few browsing bystanders and small curious children covered their ears. Molly wondered what her parents would do with animals as loud as them. 

_The house can already get loud whenever Mom and Pops are arguing._

A man wearing a dirty white apron and smoking a cigarette stood a few feet away from the cages. In his hand held a rope leash, and attached to the leash was...a pig?! 

Molly blinked twice when she caught sight of the large swine, chewing something that looked like hay. Cute fuzzy ears flicking away flies. Curly tail wagging. 

Her twin brother always had a strange affinity for pigs. Forget about the parrots, farmyard animals themselves were kind of exotic in Brooklyn. Maybe that’s why Anthony was so fascinated with them. Also they were usually his (secret) favorite color, pink. 

Another man came up to the guy holding the pig on the leash. 

“How much?” 

“Askin’ price is .30 per pound. More dependin’ on the cut.” 

Oh. 

As the two men negotiated prices for pork, Molly’s heart sank after finding out the pig’s real purpose. She wasn’t sure why. It was a nice fantasy, but way out of the realm of possibility. This pig was bigger than her and Anthony put together! If Ma and Pop said no to a dog, there’s no way either of them would say yes to a pig for Anthony. Not in this lifetime anyway. 

She walked right past the chickens stacked in cages (she figured they were only here for the same reason the pig was here). 

The opening to the building that caught Molly’s attention. Mainly for a large swimming-pool like structure that she noticed. Curious she approached it.

What she found both surprised and delighted her. 

There had to be at least a thousand goldfish in the swimming pool. Well, maybe somewhere in the hundreds. Regardless, Molly was enamored with the golden fish. She hoped Anthony would be even more so. 

She’d really have to pull the puppy eyes that Anthony taught her to get Ma to say yes. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anthony was laying down in his room, staring at the wall next to his bed. This is where he was for much of the day. His normally mischievous and playful personality was nowhere to be found.

Molly was careful to set the large bowl of goldfish. Some of the water had already sloshed over the top. Thankfully none of the fish went overboard. 

Despite the noise being subtle, it was audible enough for Anthony to hear. 

The young boy turned over on his side slightly. Molly could just see part of his eye peak over his shoulder. It looked puffy. 

“I told ya dis morning, Molz.” the little Brooklyn accent replied weakly, “I ain’t in the mood tah - ” 

Anthony shot up, now fully turned around when he saw the big bowl of goldfish swimming around. Doing a double take when he saw the pink sand and decorating the bottom and reflecting in the glass bowl. 

He said nothing for a while. Just staring with his mouth agape. It made Molly giggle when she saw it. “Surprise!”

Finally Anthony looked up at his sister. “Where dah fuck did you get this?!” Molly giggled again, more nervously this time in case their parents heard them swearing (despite the fact that they swore all the time in front of their own kids). 

“At the marketplace wif Ma! They were three for a quartah!” 

Anthony paused, “Are...they for me?” 

Molly scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Of course, silly! I don’t know if theys boys or girls, but -” 

She was suddenly cut off by her twin’s smothering hug. She hugged him back with no hesitation. Anthony finally said, “Thanks, Molly.” in a wavery voice. 

Molly, still holding onto her brother, let go to exclaim, “Let’s name ‘em!” 

Though, she didn’t really mind whatever the fish were called. She just wanted a distraction to make sure her brother didn’t cry again. 

It worked, and they decided to call the fish after themselves. Molly Jr, Anthony Jr, and Salvatore Jr, respectively. Salvatore himself pretended not to care whenever he saw the fishbowl. However, that didn’t stop him from asking how his fish named after him was doing, and feeding them small pieces of herbs from the garden when no one was looking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, the reason why I chose the name Salvatore for Arackniss was because of AxelGear's videos on Arackniss. In one video he reveals his name to Sir Pentious as Salvatore :)


	3. Mollies

Vaggie had finally come to meet her girlfriend in the bedroom. The Princess of Hell was already snuggled under the covers, wearing a blue silk nightgown with little butterflies on them. Scrolling through her hellphone with sleepy eyes. Vaggie smiled to herself, seeing how cute Charlie looked. She could only manage a small one, due to the fact that this week at the hotel was a hard one to get through. 

There was Nifty trying to kill Husker for spilling whiskey on the freshly, deep-cleaned carpet. They THINK that they were able to talk her out of plotting his murder, but they still counted the kitchen knives regularly to make sure there wasn’t one missing. 

Several demons had pranked the front desk pretending to be seeking redemption...only to make crude jokes. Vaggie was afraid that it came from Angel Dust’s room, and almost wished it did so all it would require was  _ another _ lecture.

Then there was the REAL LIFE prankster demons spray painting giant phallic symbols on the side of the Happy Hotel. At least with that ordeal, Vaggie got the opportunity to chase them off with her spear. They didn’t need much convincing to leave. 

Then, for whatever reason, Channel 666 felt the need to report on the Happy Hotel’s little “outdoor decorations” before they’d gotten them off. Vaggie was convinced it was just a slow news day, and it probably was, but she also knew that the spiteful wench Katie Killjoy always was trying to embarrass Charlie further. 

Despite all of this, there was one thing that was slightly out of the norm from this week: Angel Dust was reasonably behaved. 

The key word being  _ reasonably _ . 

He still liked to blow up random stuff with Cherri, and he could (almost) out drink Husk if he was particularly bored and horny one night. But mostly, apart from a couple of slip ups here and there, Angel was good the past few days. Vaggie was just waiting for the BIG slip up. For him and Cherri to start shit with the big wigs of Hell, or for him to get back on the harder stuff, sneak out past curfew, sneak clients in. 

She didn’t want to think too much about it though, just to avoid getting a headache before bed. 

Charlie looked up from her phone and smiled softly at Vaggie as she climbed under the covers with her, “Tomorrow will be better.” she comforted as she snuggled up to her.

Vaggie sighed, “I hope so, hun. That’s group therapy day, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

Vaggie groaned and pressed her head on the pillow. 

“Don’t worry! I’ve got a very low stress activity planned.” 

Vaggie peered her one eye over her shoulder at Charlie, “Is it anything like that one we had last week? The one with the ball?” 

Charlie winced and remembered what she was referring to. 

That day in therapy, she wanted the guests and employees to be able to express themselves thoroughly, without interruption. So, she got a medium-sized ball and whoever had it had the floor to talk about themselves and how they were feeling. 

However, despite the very basic rules of not talking while others were, Husk still muttered things. Nifty couldn’t help blurting things out. Angel did both, along with a few inappropriate jokes sprinkled in. It all inevitably backfired when it was Alastor’s turn. The Radio Demon went on a long tangent that didn’t really make much sense to anyone, and Angel couldn’t help making a smartass quips in the middle of them despite glares from Alastor and warnings from Vaggie and Charlie. After one particular joke, Alastor became fed up and used his powers to pelted the ball directly into Angel Dust’s face. Charlie attempted to calm them down, but Angel had already thrown the ball back in rebuttal. The Radio Demon dodged it like it was nothing and the ball went through a window. 

“No, no! I won’t have anything like that again.” 

“Good.” Vaggie said, relieved. “I know Alastor can fix any damage, like with the walls this week. But I’d still like to keep it at a minimum.”

Charlie yawned, “Maybe we can talk to Angel Dust about how he’s been lately.” 

Vaggie perked up suddenly, “Why? Did he do something that I don’t know about.” 

The princess smiled at Vaggie’s sudden authoritativeness, “No. I just want to talk to him about his behavior changing...for the better! I haven’t seen him sneaking around at night in the hotel. No major fights. Nothing that I'd normally prepare myself for.” 

Vaggie was glad her Charlie felt the same way and was pleased with the porn star’s progress. But it still made her wonder...was it really just an act? Like a calm before a storm? 

Vaggie didn’t want to think about it right now.

“Yeah...I guess that’s one of the few things we can be happy about.” 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vaggie remembered this time to shut the lamp off before dozing off. Although she lost track of what time she and Charlie eventually fell asleep, the moth remembered the time when they were woken up. 

“Chuck! Vagz! You still awake?”

Hearing a rapping at their door, she sleepily turned her one eye to the digital clock on their bedside table. 

3:15 am 

_What the fuck was Angel getting up to at this hour? So much for behaving himself…_

“HELLLLOOOO? Anyone in there? I know you gals might be ‘in the middle of something’, but I actually need help here!”

Vaggie managed to rise out of bed while Charlie made a cute groan and turned over. 

“Is that Angel?” she mumbled. 

“Don’t worry, hun. I’ll take care of it.” Vaggie already sounded annoyed. She didn’t make any attempts of hiding this fact on her face when she opened the door to an uncharacteristically nervous Angel Dust. 

“What’s the problem Angel?”

“Hey Vag! I need a favah.” Angel yanked her arm to pull her out, “Can ya come wit’ me a sec?” 

Angel’s fast talking and forcefulness took Vaggie off guard. 

“Wait, wait!” Vaggie attempted to plant her heels in the floor, “What the fuck happened?!” Various scenarios started running through her head. Was something on fire again? Did he sneak in another unruly client? Did she need to bring her spear or some other random weapon? 

Angel Dust dragged her along, regardless of the resistance from the grey moth. Despite his slender frame, he was surprisingly strong. 

“It’s nothing bad, toots! Nothin’s broken.” They finally arrived at his room. 

“It better not be...” Vaggie growled. 

Angel opened his bedroom. Vaggie winced at the sudden transition of brightness from the hallway to Angel’s room. It was lit up by pink lights, neon, and now, his aquarium light. 

“I swear to fuck Angel, if you woke me up just to prank me, or show me some gross shit -” 

The spider gestured to the tank with both of his upper hands. Vaggie’s eye narrowed even more, not out of the room's brightness, but out of confusion. 

“What?” 

“Look at it!” Angel gestured his hands at it again for more emphasis. 

Vaggie scoffed, “I really don’t have time for this, Angel.” 

“No! I ain’t fuckin’ around, I swear. Just -” 

“You’re lucky I don’t have the energy to be madder at this than I already am!” 

“Madder at what?” Charlie was awake and up now, appearing in the doorway of Angel's bedroom. 

“Forget about it, let's go back to bed. He’s just being annoying. In the morni-” 

“OH MY GOSH! Are those what I think they are?!” Charlie interrupted with enthusiasm turned toward the aquarium, squishing her cheeks. 

Angel leaned down his tall frame to look through the tank glass with her, smiling, “You see ‘em too, huh?”

Vaggie moved closer, “What are you looking at?” 

“I saw these in the pet store pamphlet I have!” Charlie moved over so her girlfriend could see. 

Vaggie looked through the glass and she saw tiny flecks wriggling around near the bright pink plants that Angel Dust put in. At a glance, they just looked like extremely small white fish. But upon closer examination, they were obviously the offspring of the two recently purchased Dalmatian mollies. These were Angel’s new favorite fish and beside angelfish and blobfish. 

They appeared to be hiding from not only the three demons looking in, but also the other fish in their neon habitat. 

“Are those...babies?” Vaggie inquired. 

“What da fuck do you think?” Angel was obviously annoyed about Vaggie’s initial refusal to see what he was trying to show her. Vaggie only snarled in response for now.

“They’re called fry!” Charlie replied, smiling. 

“And this is what you woke me up for? Woke  _ us  _ up for?” 

Vaggie looked at Angel before turning her attention back to her girlfriend. They were both making a similar expression. Both of their eyes were big and pleading. 

_Oh shit...double puppy eyes._

It suddenly clicked together in Vaggie’s mind. 

“Oh no! We are not keeping them!” 

“What about just a few?” Charlie asked moving closer to Vaggie. 

“We had a hard enough time finding a place for the other fish, what are we going to do with these?” 

“Weeelll, we gotta move ‘em somewhere, Vagz.” Angel placed his bottom hands on his hips. “I don’t want any of da other fish tah snack on the babies.” 

Charlie’s face flashed a look of concern. 

“I t’ink some of them might ‘ave already gotten gobbled up.” Angel pressed his face up to the glass of the aquarium again, “ _ You little red fuckers t’ink your tough cause you eat babies, huh? You little fucks ain’t shit - _ ” 

Charlie turned back and smiled as Angel muttered threats to the Harlequin Rasboras. “They don’t require that much room, Vaggie. And you know they’d be difficult to give away…”

Vaggie still stood her ground. 

“We’d have to get a whole other tank. At least 30 gallons. Where would we put that?” 

“My room.” Angel interjected.

Vaggie looked at Angel Dust, jaw dropped open in disbelief, “You're kidding. You’re going to have TWO fish tanks in your room?” 

Angel shrugged, “Yeah, sure. My room’s big enough.” 

Vaggie massaged her forehead at Angel’s sudden take on responsibility. 

Charlie wasn’t reluctant, at all, “Well great! In the morning I can order -” 

“Wait, hun.” Vaggie interrupted, “We can’t just give him another tank full of life to take care of.”

“Why not?” Charlie and Angel said in unison. Charlie’s questioned with genuine curiosity and Angel with indignation. 

Vaggie addressed Angel’s offended face, “Because you can barely take care of yourself half the time, why should I give you something else that requires care when you already have two?” 

She gestured to the tank and to Fat Nuggets who was curled up in his little pet bed. Angel didn’t look though because his eyes were too busy scowling at Vaggie. 

“I ain’t been doin’ nothin’ bad!” 

“Yeah, but how long will that last?” 

“Vaggie!” Charlie interjected. The just spider and the moth stared at each other with hostility. The princess stood between them. “H-hey, come on now! We can solve this in other ways. Right, Angel Dust?” 

“Two weeks.” 

“Pardon?” Charlie blinked. Her and Vaggie both looked equally confused at Angel’s statement. 

“I’ll bet you that I can be sober and stay out of trouble for two weeks: no booze, no drugs, no blowing shit up.”   


“No problematic language?” Charlie raised her eyebrows. 

Angel held up his front hand, "Hey now, don't play innocent Chuck. Your girl ovah there swears more than me sometimes." 

Vaggie continued glaring at him. 

Charlie place her hands together, "Yes, Angel. Buuuuuut it's something she's been working on, just like how everyone else has been working on themselves! The question is, do YOU think you could be able to refrain from it?"

That’d be one of the hardest. Charlie and Vaggie didn’t always reprimand him for his language, but it was something that was reprimanded. However, he loved a challenge. 

“I’ll be a little choir boy...and she better quit swearing with me." he gestured a backwards finger to Vaggie. "And if I pass all this, I get tah keep dese little guys in my room.” he waggled his finger at the tank. 

“What about Valentino?” Vaggie said, emotionless.

Angel bit his lip. Now that would REALLY be the hardest. He knew how much Val hated when he missed a few days of work. He already was worried about what the consequences would be. His boots shuffled thinking of how he’d be able get out of that one. 

_Maybe I shouldn't have mention that one out of nowhere._

Vaggie bit her lip too. 

_He looks so uncomfortable._

“I think that no swearing, no drinking or drugs, and no unnecessary violence would be sufficient enough!” Charlie assured the spider after seeing him looking nervous. Vaggie nodded her head.

Angel smiled softly at that bullet being dodged. 

“So gals, in the words of Al, we gotta deal?” Angel jokingly held out his hand, leaning in and grinning the way the Radio Demon did.

Vaggie and Charlie looked at each, before Vaggie scoffed to herself. 

“I don’t know if it’s the lack of sleep or the fact that I’m  _ this  _ surprised you’re actually considering doing something like this...” 

“I ain’t considerin’ it. I’m tellin’ ya!” Angel retracted his hand and crossed his top arms, pouting.

Vaggie glared again at Angel before turning to Charlie, “What do you think, hun?” 

Charlie nodded and smiled, “I think it’s a real positive change for Angel to want to do this challenge.” she looked at the tank, “Although, we should probably get a temporary home for the fish until then, just so more of them don’t uh… ‘disappear’.” 

  
  
  
  
  



	4. Centerpiece Fish

The past week and a half was one of the hardest for Angel. It was like this ANY time Angel tried to give up something all at once. This time, it was multiple things, all at once.

Yes, this absolutely was NOT the first time Angel ever quit something cold turkey. When he first agreed to be part of the hotel, he did the same thing (prior to his turf war with Cherri Bomb).  Killer migraines, body chills, and constant tiredness were not new symptoms to the porn star. He’d been through these ordeals several times already. But there were other new challenges. 

Apart from the usual temptations, there was a new challenge of not swearing. And with being around some of the other demons of the hotel, it became a struggle. A struggle that got even worse when Alastor heard of Angel’s bet with Vaggie and Charlie. 

The deer demon didn’t waste any time trying to provoke the spider. If a hair on Angel’s head was out of place, or if he came down later than expected for breakfast, or if he said anything that Al could even remotely pick apart, it was fair game. 

Angel was usually quick witted enough when thinking of insults with any other demon. But Alastor outranked him in retorts. Especially when Angel was flustered and already mad. 

Vaggie remembers trying her best to choke back laughter when Angel stomped over to Charlie, fuming: “Chuck, you better tell that Rudolph lookin’ mother - er - I mean...uh. You better tell that son-of...er, GAH! ” 

Then there was the complete boredom. The porn star would regularly wander around the hotel, trying to find something to temporarily entertain himself. Sometimes it was flirting with Husk (only to be rebuffed) which didn't last long since he couldn't get anything at the bar now. Sometimes it was smoking his trillionth cigarette of the day, which was one of the things that he was thankful the challenge permitted. 

But other times, he was just plopped in front of the hotel TV in the lobby. The look of boredom on his face was evident when switching through the channels. 

This particular evening was like that. 

Charlie, who was often manning the lobby of the hotel, looked sadly at Angel. She had told him how proud she was of his hard work, of trying to be better. But it did little to help with his frustration or restlessness. She only watched as a subdued Angel Dust retired for the night. 

However, she had a secret this night. One that only her and her girlfriend knew. But somehow, she was able to keep quiet all the way up until Angel went to bed.

“ ‘Night, Chuck.” he glanced at her as he walked past the front desk, “Make sure you tell Nifty tah make that coffee extra strong in the mornin’. It takes the edge off, ya know what I mean?” The spider managed a weak chuckle as his boots clicked off to his room. 

Charlie smiled softly in response. Not just in response to Angel’s remark. But also because she knew about the surprise in his room

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Vaggie was making her normal rounds in the hotel at night. Making sure that nothing was broken or on fire. Or both. It was a favor she did for Charlie, since having to deal with the chaos of the hotel during the day was a lot for even the Princess of Hell. Vaggie tried to ease any stress on her girlfriend that she could. It helped that at any time she wanted to, Vaggie could threaten or otherwise scare off anybody who questioned her, something that she had been trying to work on after Charlie told her that she was a little too intimidating for potential residents. However, it came in handy more times than not. 

One particular time came tonight, when walking past Angel Dust’s room, Vaggie was taken out of her working mode. Not just through distraction, but  _ physically _ by Angel. 

The spider demon grabbed her shoulders from behind. 

“HE-HEY VAGGIE! GUESS WHAT’S IN MY ROOM?! IT’S -”

Instead of allowing Angel to take her along with him like before, her immediate reaction was hitting his stomach with her elbow allowing her to pull him into a headlock when he doubled over. To say it took Angel by surprise was an understatement. Vaggie was a few feet shorter than Angel, but the moth’s excellent fighting skills held up even against a demon like him. 

“WHOA, WHOA! Hold on! It's just me!” 

When Vaggie recognized Angel’s exclamations, she released him and scowled. 

“What were you doing Angel?” she now faced him. 

Angel was now standing up at his full stature, though slightly hunched. He caressed his neck where she had held him, “I could ask you the same, BITCH.” Angel put emphasis on the word “bitch”, something he often did when he and Vaggie were at each others throats. Like how they were now. “Jeez, talk about playin’ rough. I don’t even wanna know the kinda stuff you n’ Chuck get up tah.” 

Vaggie placed her palm on her face. She’d be more annoyed hearing Angel talk about her and Charlie this way, but she just wanted to get to the bottom of what he was doing up. 

“Sorry, Angel. It’s just an involuntary response I’ve learned in self-defense.” she looked back up at him, “Just tell us what you need. If you need us to go to the store again, we’ll do it tomorrow. No more emergency night runs for fish food or anything else.” 

Angel crossed his upper arms while his lower pair rested on his hips, “I was just lookin’ for whoever put that new tank in my room!” he smiled, looking off, “...with the  _ angelfish _ .” 

Vaggie smirked a little too, “Well, Charlie and I figured since you’ve been doing much better than we’ve given you credit for -” 

Angel’s smile turned into an annoyed frown at the slight. One of his hands stuck a middle finger out in response. 

Vaggie blinked and ignored this, “So, we -er- she decided to give you your tank earlier than we had promised.” 

Angel’s eyes lit up and he almost wanted to hug the hotel manager that he so often was at odds with.  _ Almost _ . 

“Holy fuckin’ shit! Dis is the best t’ing that’s happened to me all day.” Angel placed a finger to his mouth, “Actually, y’know what? All WEEK!” 

The spider’s enthusiasm was unhidden. It was endearing to see someone like Angel Dust be as excited as a little kid on his birthday. Vaggie couldn’t hide her smile, but she played it off cool. 

“Well, we appreciate the effort you’re putting in Angel. And even though this is a surprise, we still want you to try and stay clean and follow the rules.” 

Angel’s joy died down a bit. His energy transformed from a little kid to a bratty teen. 

“Yeah, yeah. I got it, MOM. Be home at 11:00 and don’t drive the car too fast right?” he crossed his top arms and rolled his eyes but he still had a smile on his face. 

“I’m serious, Angel. We’ve given you a little leeway. But that doesn’t mean you can act like a wild animal all over again. The reason why we wanted to give you the second aquarium early was because of the progress you made, and the progress we hope you’ll continue to make. Hopefully this aquarium - these aquariums - will help you become more responsible.” 

Angel’s face looked a little blank. Vaggie wondered if he had been listening. 

“Look, babe. I told ya before. I got Fat Nuggie’s ‘ere.” Angel gestured to his hotel room, “You t’ink I’m just gonna let a bunch of these little guys go to waste? C’mon Vagz.” 

Vaggie sighed, “I guess I just wanted to tell you to keep up the good work, Angel.” 

He smiled, unsure of how to take the positive praise. Especially from Vaggie. 

“Yeah...well...t’anks I guess.” Angel rubbed his elbow, averting his eyes and smiling. “It’ll be even bettah now that I got an that  _ new _ addition.” 

Vaggie smiled, “Yes. It turns out that angelfish can be in a 30 gallon tank with mollies. The demon at the pet store said they make a good 'centerpiece fish'.” 

Angel was starting to feel more and more at ease, “Well, lemme go tell Chuck t'anks. The color on da little guy's real nice.” 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When Vaggie and Charlie were getting ready for bed, the Princess of Hell couldn’t hide the smile from her face. Vaggie noticed when her eye glanced up in the mirror. 

She stopped brushing her teeth, “What?” 

Charlie hummed to herself and went about her business happily, “Oh, nothing.” 

Vaggie laughed and was still dumbfounded, “What? Did something happen?” 

“Before I left the front desk, Angel came and told me that he was very happy with the tank and the new angelfish.” Charlie smiled knowingly at her girlfriend. 

Vaggie rinsed off her brush, “Oh yeah. I talked to him in the hallway earlier. It’s good that he’s on the right track.” 

Charlie smiled at her girlfriend more, but was still silent. 

Vaggie laughed again, “What is it, hun? You're just giving me that look like you have something you wanna tell me, but...” 

“No, no, no…” Charlie giggled and shook her head, “I’m just happy that our patient is finally starting to grow on you.” 

Vaggie playfully rolled her eyes, “Charlie, of course I’m going to support him. I want him to get on the path towards redemption too.” 

Charlie traced her hand along the top of the sink, “Oh, so I can tell him that _you_ were the one who decided to give him the tank early and that _you_ bought the angelfish?” 

Vaggie made a face and groaned, “I’m not going soft on him or anything. I’ll still keep his ass in check whenever he needs it.” 

They went to bed as they normally do, but Charlie still had this knowing smile on her face. Her girlfriend was finally getting a soft spot for their first guest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my first fic on here! Hope you enjoyed :) 
> 
> I know this wasn't anything really exciting but I'm in the process of writing a much longer fic...I can't wait! :)


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